


Of blue boxes and yellow snakes

by breaktrio



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Doctor Who AU, First Meetings, Jason Grace is a Dork, M/M, Monsters and aliens, Nico is Very Talkative, Nico is the Doctor and Jason his companion, That's it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22615549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breaktrio/pseuds/breaktrio
Summary: Space, time and cute boys. How can Jason stay away from that?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Of blue boxes and yellow snakes

Jason needs to be less good. He’s too good. And too bored. Well, he’s a mix of goodness, boredom and curiosity and that took him on a trip to space. Space is very faraway form Berkeley, California, he’s aware of that. The fact is: he doesn’t want to study for his medieval history exam, because he hates medieval history, and that’s why he decides to hop on a spaceship with a skinny pale kid wearing all black like it’s 2009 and he has a My Chemical Romance concert in an hour... ‘cause it makes sense.

Jason lost his mind, maybe this is all a fever dream, maybe he’s so sick that he’s hallucinating things. Or he’s too bored and he started daydreaming about spaceships and weird cute boys.

Weird boys? They are everywhere on campus. Weird boys with a blue police box? Jason doesn’t judge anyone; everyone has their own passions. Jason, for example, has SPQR tattooed on his forearm because he likes the Roman Empire. This kid likes... blue police boxes. Weird boys with a blue box who claim that the said blue box is a ship that can travel through space and time? Jason should run away from them, not follow them inside the — you got it. 

The story is simple. It is 6 p.m. It’s already dark because it’s winter. He’s walking. He’s cold. He’s going to the library to study. Yes, at 6 p.m. He’s angry with his sister because, again, she couldn’t come and visit, and he waited for her all day just to answer a phone call full of sorry and work is killing me. So, he’s walking. Very slowly. And then he hears The Noise. Jason can’t really describe it. It’s mechanical, something that he could’ve heard in Leo’s workshop. Of course, he goes to investigate. He can’t just leave it, everything is better than medieval history, even a killer robot made by Leo. The noise comes from a dark alley. Not scary at all. He takes a few steps in and there it is. The box. And the boy. Also, the boy is glowing orange. Weird. He looks sick and Jason is a very good person - thank you very much - so he feels the need to help this strange glowing emo goth kid. Of course, he feels that.

Jason finds out soon enough that the emo goth kid doesn’t like help. And being touched. It’s okay, Jason understands. The other keeps looking at him, still glowing like a disco light. Jason wants to take him to the hospital, he’s probably high on something. Maybe acid. Oh God, if he dies on Jason? He should call help. Ambulance? Police? The military, maybe. He’s panicking, now. Why is he panicking? He doesn’t panic, he does well in stressful situations. He’s the one who calms people when they are panicking, but, of course, this situation is new. He never had to save someone’s life. Summer camp doesn’t count.

While Jason thinks a strategy, something is happening behind him. He doesn’t know it, yet, but something is moving towards him. This something is big and yellow, and it looks like a snake. And it’s about to eat him whole. 

The maybe-dying boy yells “Get down!!” and Jason, who is all instinct and no brain, does it just in time not to lose his head because the kid has a black sword and, apparently, he’s not afraid to use it that close to Jason’s body. 

Jason slowly turns and he stops breathing for thirty seconds. 

A giant-sized yellow snake was about to eat him, but now that said snake is freezed, standing still like a statue, with its mouth open... those teeth look very sharp.

Jason is about to faint. He can feel the blood leaving his brain. But the kid (he has to stop calling him kid, boy or whatever...) pulls him inside the box.

“Drakons... fucking drakons...” he hears the boy mutter, but Jason is too busy with the inside.

The inside is bigger than the outside. The blue box is a very big box, with black walls (a punch for the colour scheme! Black inside and blue outside? This guy needs to remodel) and white lights with a... thing in the centre. Controls, maybe? It’s big, anyway. And it’s shocking to a human who has never seen something big inside and small outside.

Fuck.

So, this is an earth-shattering, breath-taking, about-to-die-of-heart-attack kind of thing. Jason isn’t proud because, of course, he faints. But, really, what was he supposed to do?

He wakes up few minutes later. How embarrassing. Fainting like that. The boy is sitting next to him, on the stairs that leads to the controls. They are also black. He’s looking at Jason like his presence is disturbing him. Well, it’s probably true. 

“You are awake.” He says, flat tone, a glowing black pen pointed at Jason’s face. He has an accent. “What was that?” Then he asks, lips pursed.

“A giant snake?” Jason tries.

“No, I know what that was. That was a drakon and it was following me since... yesterday? I don’t know... time’s tricky these days. Regeneration and everything considered.” He stops, looking at Jason from head to toe with his dark eyes, probably scanning him with his mind powers. Everything is possible, right now. Then he gets up and starts walking, leaving Jason’s side. “What I mean is what were you doing?”

“Uhm... trying to help you? You looked like you needed it.” Did he hit his head when he fainted?

The boy stops. “I don’t need help.”

“It’s what you said out there.” Jason gets up and he doesn’t miss the look on the other’s face. Worry, maybe? “But you looked pretty out of it. You said regeneration? And drakon?” Jason looks at him properly for the first time that night. He’s skinny but tall, pale and he has a head full of long dark hair. He has pink lips and light freckles dancing on his face. Also, his eye bags cover half of his small face. He’s pretty but he also looks mean. “Also, who are you? Never saw you on campus.”

The boy smirks, confident, like he was waiting for that question. “I’m the Doctor.”

Jason raises an eyebrow “No, you are not. You are way too young to have a medical degree. Aren’t you, like, nineteen?” 

This kid can’t be a doctor. Doctor of what? He’s a doctor in the medical sense or he has a doctorate? He’s too young for both, but maybe he’s a genius. Jason saw 16-year-olds at college, so everything is possible. 

The “Doctor” rolls his eyes “It’s just this body! Two days and it’s already giving me problems…” he shakes his head and hair falls into his eyes. He tries to blow it away but fails. The Doctor sighs and with his hands, he pushes it behind his ears. 

“This body?” Jason is really confused. What’s going on? Now he has a headache. The bright lights are hurting his eyes, and there is a drakon – whatever that is – outside. And this boy isn’t making any sense. This is worse than that time when Percy challenged him to stay underwater for five minutes. 

“Yes, this body. What’s your name, oh good Samaritan?” He asks, voice full of sarcasm. He’s walking, now, looking for something, or maybe just ignoring Jason.

“Uhm, it’s Jason? Jason Grace.” 

“Grace? Sounds familiar.” The Doctor murmurs to himself, then he stops moving and turns to look at Jason “Thank you.” He says, and he’s serious. 

“For what?” Jason asks.

“For helping me, I guess.” He struggles to get the words out, his accent strong.

“I didn’t do anything.” Jason tries to avoid the other one’s piercing dark eyes “You saved me, actually…” 

“You tried – he shrugs – I think that’s important. And you are welcome.” He starts walking around again, now circling the controls of the whatever this is, studying them like it’s the first time he sees them. 

A few seconds of silence.

“Who are you? Be honest.” 

“I told you, I’m the Doctor. I’m an alien. I’m a Time Lord. This is my time and spaceship, it can go anywhere, anytime. Well, theoretically. Practically, I forgot how to drive it.” 

“You forgot how to driv--?” Jason’s brain is going to get fried today “Wait a minute, a what?” 

“It’s called TARDIS and it’s a spaceship and yes, it’s bigger on the inside, close your mouth and press that button. I’m trying something here.” He’s mean, Jason thinks. He gets close to the controls of the spaceship (this is so hard, his head hurts) and he presses the button and The Doctor smiles at him for the first time in three hours. It’s a little smile, but it is a smile. Jason hopes his face is not red as he feels it.  
The TARDIS makes a strange sound and The Doctor nods at it, like it’s good news. Jason doesn’t know what to do, so he just stands there while the other one walks around, checking monitors and mumbling words that Jason can’t understand.

“So, you are alien.” Jason thinks it’s an important thing to discuss. 

“I have two hearts. I came from a faraway planet.”

“Oh.” Jason nods. Good. He’s alien. From another planet. Not an Earthling. It’s okay. He’s just an alien. Totally okay. Then something clicks. “The thing… outside. Is it alien, too?” He asks, looking at the wooden doors with worry. If that thing unfreezes, surely that door can’t hold it back. 

“Yes. It is. I brought it back with me.”

“From where?” 

The Doctor looks up at Jason, he tils his head and thinks. Then he says “Space?” 

“You don’t know.” Jason crosses his arms over his chest. 

“Of course, I don’t know, Jason Grace, I was dying. I was a little bit busy with that!” He snaps then he takes the monitor between his hands, twisting it around. 

“You were dying?” What the fuck!

The Doctor just shakes his head “Yes. Okay. Crush course on Time Lords. When we die, we regenerate. New body – he points at himself –, new life. It’s like new year. Two days ago, I was a lovely British woman, today? Apparently, a young Italian man. That’s new, the accent. Also, the sword. And the clothes. They were the only thing I had in the wardrobe that fitted perfectly. I like them, though. Black is the new black, or something.” 

Jason opens his mouth and for sure he doesn’t close it. “So, you.” 

The Doctor nods “Yeah.”

“Well, fuck.” Jason says, “If you are an alien, why are you Italian?” 

“I just like to think I am.” The Doctor shrugs. 

Then there is silence. The Doctor keeps walking around, probably trying to figure out how to drive his own TARDIS. Jason wants to laugh at that, but he doesn’t. He’s just standing there, not moving at all. Jason doesn’t know what to do or what to say. This is weird. He never met an alien before, don’t blame him for not knowing anything about this. Until yesterday, he never thought about aliens. He knew that they exist, obviously, you can’t have an infinite universe and believe that humans are the only life forms. But it wasn’t something that concerned him. He was just an English and Literary major trying to survive his exams and get a degree to teach how to read to young and impressionable children. Now, he’s standing in a time and spaceship with a boy? Alien? Someone who claims that his name is The Doctor and that two days ago was a woman. The only thing weirder than that is Jason isn’t afraid of him. Okay, he’s shocked, and he has got a headache and everything, but he’s not scared. He’s… intrigued. That’s the word. Yes, he is.

“What are you gonna do with the… drakon? Outside?” He asks, pointing at the doors “Did you… kill it?”

The Doctor stops and looks at Jason, eyes hard, like he offended him. “I didn’t. I stopped him from eating you.” He answers, serious then he looks at the sword attached to his black jeans “The sword freezes non-living and living things, apparently. I don’t know, it’s the first time I used it. I thought it was cool, matched the outfit.” Then he looks back at the controls, pouting “I’m going to take him back to his home planet. It’s my fault he is here. He’s just scared, you know.” 

“Home planet. In space.”

“Yes. It’s usually where planets are, Jason.” 

Then, Jason has an idea. It’s a terrible idea. He’ll regret, he knows. But this… it’s too much to ignore. He can’t just walk out the door and forget about it. Space. And time. Sometimes his heart is faster than his brain. 

“The TARDIS… can travel to space and time, right?”

“Yes. I already answered that question. All the space, every corner, explored and not explored. And all the time you want. Every century, every year. Also, the TARDIS doesn’t leave a carbon print. It’s ecologic.” The Doctor, a mix of annoyance and enthusiasm in his voice. 

“Can I come?” Jason gets the words out and the world doesn’t crumble, but his heart is beating fast. “I could help… with the drakon.” He adds, quickly. He’s sweating and feels like dying when the Doctor looks at him, his eyes bright and dark. He will say no. Of course, he will. He doesn’t want a burden, which Jason is. He’s human and he’s boring. The Doctor doesn’t need a 21-year-old college student with a lot of issues and low self-esteem. Thanks, dad, for that. And the Doctor doesn’t know him, anyway. And Jason doesn’t know the Doctor. And that gets him to making a point to himself: why would he leave his life to go into space where giant snakes live. Why would he… why… he knows why. Life’s boring, dad’s an asshole, mom’s dead and his sister doesn’t want to see him. Also, add to the mix an angry and super demanding step-mother and ex-girlfriend that doesn’t talk to him. He can’t hang out with his best friend because Leo’s also best friends with said ex-girlfriend. So, yeah. Giant snakes? Emo aliens? Yes, please.

“Do you want to come?” The Doctor’s voice surprises him, because in his panic mode, Jason’s forgot about him. 

“I asked, didn’t I?” He jokes, trying to smile to cover his disappointment. 

“It will be dangerous – the Doctor keeps looking at him – and I can’t always protect you. You could die, or worse.” 

“I’m a big boy, you know. I think, biologically, I’m older than you.” 

The Doctor smiles at that “I’m thousands of years old, Jason.” 

“Well, – Jason’s smile is bigger now, he knows it – you don’t look a day older than eighteen.” 

The Doctor gets close, he’s tall, but Jason’s taller so he must look up to look in Jason’s eyes. Jason likes that. He tries not to laugh.

“Then get the drakon in.”

**Author's Note:**

> i don't really know what to say... i wrote this when i was supposed to study... but here we are. i just love them so much and i love doctor who so much and i started thinking. this is the result!  
> anyways, english is not my first language! i try, tho. there are other things about this au i'd like to write about... we'll see. i hope you like this and now i really need to study but i won't because i'm a bad girl and everything.


End file.
